Caelum Incognitum — The interactive encyclopedia of ufology
Mystery airships
Objects & phenomena
A wave of sightings of large unknown “airships” in the United States in 1896-1897, long before powered flight: cigars or ellipses carrying searchlights, propellers, even crews addressing witnesses. The press turned it into a serial and several accounts were hoaxes (the Aurora, Texas “crash”). The phenomenon is still studied as a precursor of modern waves.